All I Want for Christmas: A Contemporary Romance Holiday Collection

by S. L. Sterling

  * * *

  "She was being a good friend." I shrugged, still not really sure I wanted to accept the truth.

  * * *

  "Yep, she was. She also told me a long time ago that she wished her ex was more like my brother Austin. She's the one who has compared every single boyfriend she's ever had to you, and that is why none of her relationships work. It's because there is only one guy who she wants, and that is you. Just so you know, she will never admit that because she fears she is doomed in the relationship department."

  * * *

  I blew out a breath at all she had just said, I knew the last part was true because she had confessed that to me last night. I stood flipping through the book, letting everything sink into my mind. Finally, I shut the book and looked to my sister.

  * * *

  "Addie, listen, please. I promised Kristy that after I talked to you, we would talk to you together. She's struggling with this and needs to sort out a couple of things, so just wait to mention it to her."

  * * *

  Addie looked me in the eye and shook her head. "No, Austin, no more secrets. You need to stop accepting less than you deserve."

  * * *

  "I'm not. I am giving Kristy a chance."

  * * *

  "Austin, you need to live your life out loud. She shouldn't be ashamed to be in a relationship with you. She should be proud. Secret relationships are for cheaters and people who really don't love one another. You need to tell her that I know and then tell the world that you are together."

  * * *

  "All right, fine. Just, before you say anything, give me a chance to talk to her, okay. Let me tell her that you know and that you are okay with it."

  * * *

  "No worries. I'm not gonna say anything, and yes, talk to her, tell her."

  * * *

  "I will."

  17

  Kristy

  * * *

  I had worked morning, noon, and night over the last couple of days to make sure that I met my deadline in time. I hadn't ever been so happy to send an email to Tom as I was today.

  I glanced at the clock, disappointed to see that it was only two in the afternoon on a Friday. I couldn't wait to be finished today. Austin and I had plans to go to the movies tonight once he was done his shift, and then we were going to return to my apartment and spend time decorating my Christmas tree.

  * * *

  My phone vibrated on my desk, and I smiled to myself, expecting it to be Austin. Instead, Tom's name flashed across the screen. I opened the text to find only three words: my office now.

  A funny feeling crept through me. I had sworn to myself that I would never be caught again in Tom's office. Whenever he requested a meeting with me, I had found a way to either just send him what he needed through email or made him come to me.

  * * *

  I picked up my phone and feverishly typed, “What do you need?” and set my phone back down on my desk, opening the next scheduled project I had to work on. I hoped that this didn't have anything to do with what he had proposed the other day.

  * * *

  Seconds later, my phone buzzed again, and I glanced down to see his reply. “I need you to come to my office.” I rolled my eyes and blew out a breath.

  * * *

  Since that tactic had backfired, I eventually found myself in the elevator going up to the fifteenth floor to his office. I drummed my fingernails on the railing inside the elevator as it lifted me closer to his floor. I glanced down at my watch. I really wished that it was almost time to end my day.

  * * *

  The elevator bell rang and the doors opened. I was faced with a girl, her face red and tear streaked. I recognized her from the payroll department. She said nothing. Instead, she took one look at me, covered her mouth to stifle a sob, and as I slipped out of the elevator, she slipped in and hit the button going down. I frowned. What the hell was going on?

  * * *

  I walked down the hall to the dreaded desk of his assistant, the one I had found spread eagle on his desk, and announced myself.

  She looked up from her computer. "Of course. He is waiting for you," she said and smiled smugly before returning to whatever it was she was working on.

  * * *

  I walked to his office and knocked on the open door. He looked up from his computer and stopped typing. "Kristy, come on in," Tom said, standing and pointing to the chair across from him. "Have a seat."

  * * *

  "I'll stand, thanks," I bit out and stepped inside his office.

  * * *

  "Fine, close the door please."

  * * *

  "It can stay open, thanks," I bit out, glaring into his eyes. He locked eyes with me, debating on challenging me, but I didn't back down. There was no way I was going to be caught in his office with the door closed.

  * * *

  "Fine. Look, as announced, the magazine is going through a restructure. Unfortunately, many of the departments had to be cut or required cuts, and yours is one of them."

  * * *

  I looked at Tom. Surely, he wasn't speaking about me. I mean, I was a senior in my position. "Fine, so who am I losing? Jen, Meg, Alexandra?" I questioned, annoyed that he made me come all the way up here just for this information when he could have easily emailed it to me.

  * * *

  "Pretty much the entire department," Tom said, sitting back down behind his computer.

  * * *

  "Okay, so no big deal. I can handle the work, and then I can rebuild it. It will take time, of course, to find the right individuals."

  * * *

  "No, you're misunderstanding me. Your whole entire department has been cut."

  * * *

  "Tom, there is no way I can do the work of twenty people, so you better come up with something. Go back to the new bosses and explain that I at least need to keep three people."

  * * *

  "You won't have to, because you are included in your department. They will be outsourcing your department."

  * * *

  I felt the room start to spin. He just let the words roll off his lips as if it didn't matter that he had just fired twenty people. He sat there clicking on the keys of his computer, probably sending out a notice to announce to any employees who were left not to contact me for anything moving forward.

  * * *

  "Effective as of when?" I questioned.

  * * *

  "Effective today at five."

  * * *

  I glanced at my watch. In an hour and a half I was jobless. What the hell was I going to do? I had rent to pay, bills to pay, a car to pay for, food to buy. I stood there for a couple of minutes, trying hard to let the words process, and that was when the anger hit. Tom sat there still typing away as if I had already left his office.

  * * *

  I glared at him and then slammed his door shut. He stopped typing and looked up at me. "Does this have something to do with the other day, when I rejected you?" I bit out. "Is that why I am being fired?"

  * * *

  "No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

  * * *

  "Because, Tom, I know you. If I wasn't on the chopping block, I was probably put on it by you after that. Am I right?"

  * * *

  "That isn't it. Now is there anything else I can help you with?" he asked, looking up at me, a smug smile on his face.

  * * *

  "No. I will be cleaning out my office," I bit out.

  * * *

  "Yep, at the end of today, you still have two hours or so worth of work time. Just be aware that your key card won't work tomorrow morning, so make sure you have everything that is of your personal property before exiting the building today. Otherwise, you will have to be escorted up here by security."

  * * *

  "Ha, no, Tom, I won't be waiting until the end of today," I bit out. "I will be cleaning out my office the second I get back down there. As for the rest of my work day, you can shove i
t."

  * * *

  "Kristy..."

  * * *

  I turned. I had nothing else to say to him, and I began walking back down towards the elevators. I could hear him calling my name and turned to see him step outside of his office door. Ignoring him, I pressed the down button.

  I struggled with the box of my belongings as I took the elevator up to my apartment, almost dropping it twice. Finally, the elevator opened, and I made it into my apartment just in time for the side of the box to rip and the contents to fall to the floor. I swore under my breath and leaned against the wall, fighting back tears. What the hell was I going to do?

  * * *

  I couldn't even call my best friend to let her know what had happened. I needed to talk to her so bad, but because of keeping things from her, I knew in a situation like this, everything would just come pouring out. I hated this entire situation, and with my fists balled up, I punched the wall. The second my hand hit, pain shot up to my shoulder, and the tears that began to fall—. Once the pain subsided, I grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and sat down, wrapping my swollen hand in a towel.

  * * *

  I didn't have time to be upset. I needed to take a look at my finances and then hop onto the local job site to find something before Austin arrived to go to the movies. I left the mess of stuff on the floor inside the door and changed into my favorite pair of ripped jeans and a sweater.

  I sat down on the floor and grabbed my laptop, quickly searching through the available jobs in the area. After forty minutes of that, I was beyond frustrated. There was nothing in my field, and unless I was going to flip burgers at the local burger joint, I had nothing.

  I rubbed my eyes and opened up my online banking. I had a little over five thousand dollars in my savings account and was only three hundred to the positive in my checking account. I blew out a breath and, once again, the tears started to slip down my cheeks. I still had two paychecks coming, but after that, it would be a matter of six or seven months before everything was gone, and that would only be if I were strict with myself.

  * * *

  I curled up on the couch and cried for almost an hour, then I did my best to clean myself up after the meltdown I'd had in the living room. I had just applied fresh makeup and came walking out into the living room when the phone rang.

  * * *

  "Hello," I answered.

  * * *

  "Hey, Kristy, it's Addie."

  * * *

  "Hey, Addie." I closed my eyes, fighting back more tears.

  * * *

  "Everything okay? You sound down."

  * * *

  I felt so off balance it wasn't funny. My best friend was calling and asking if I was okay because she could tell from the sound of my voice that I wasn't. Hell, she had probably already sensed something was wrong from the other side of the city, that was how in sync we were.

  I suddenly started having doubts about everything including my friendship with her. It was practically non-existent since I had been keeping things from her. And Austin? I had no clue where to even go with him.

  * * *

  "Not really. I..."

  * * *

  "It's okay, Kristy. Don’t be upset anymore. I already know about you and Austin."

  * * *

  The words sank into my ear, and I felt the anger boil inside of me. He had promised.

  * * *

  "What?" I questioned, frowning.

  * * *

  "Austin told me everything. It's okay. He said you were going to be upset when you told me. I already knew, though. I knew it was his shoes inside your door the other night the second I had seen his coat hanging on the hook. I didn't want to embarrass you, so I just played along with you."

  * * *

  Every alarm bell in my body went off as she continued talking. I barely heard a word she had said. The only thing going through my mind was just what I had been worried about: that Austin couldn't be trusted. He had gone behind my back even when I asked him not to and told her before we had agreed to. Tears filled my eyes and everything blurred in front of me.

  * * *

  Addie continued rambling on, while I stood there wishing I could just punch the wall in front of me again, but then both hands would be aching and swollen. Just like usual, I would lose him, just like the others, because without trust, there was no way I couldn't move forward in a relationship with him.

  * * *

  "So what else is going on with you?" Addie asked.

  * * *

  "I have to go, Addie," I whispered and hung up the phone without even saying good-bye.

  * * *

  Austin was supposed to be here in twenty five minutes, and he was the last person I wanted to see right now. I grabbed a water from the fridge and drank enough to remove the huge lump that sat in my throat. I picked up the phone and punched in his cell number, waiting for him to pick up.

  * * *

  "Reeves," he said into his phone. He must have been getting showered because he never answered the phone like that when it was me.

  * * *

  "Hey, would it be possible to meet me at The Roasted Bean?"

  * * *

  "You don't want to see the movie?"

  * * *

  "No," I answered, biting my trembling lip.

  * * *

  "All right, give me twenty minutes to shower, and I will swing by and pick you up."

  * * *

  "It's okay. I can meet you there."

  * * *

  There was silence on the phone, and I choked back the tears that were about to fall.

  * * *

  "Kristy, is everything okay?" I could hear the unease in his voice, and I knew in that second I was going to crush him.

  * * *

  "Yep. I've got to go get ready. See you then."

  * * *

  I didn't wait for him to hang up. I couldn't because, as I spoke to him, I could already feel my heart breaking. I had no idea how I could have been so stupid. He wasn't ever going to be right for me. We would never have worked out, and I felt foolish to think that we would.

  With that thought in my mind, I figured I would have felt better. Instead, my chest ached, and ten minutes later, I found myself in the bathroom with my head in the toilet.

  18

  Austin

  * * *

  I hung up the phone and toyed with the idea of not showering after my workout. Kristy had me worried that something was really wrong, and I wanted to rush to her aid. Then I glanced at the clock and realized I had at least half an hour before I had to meet her. If I left here now, I would be at her apartment before she planned to leave. She sounded so serious on the phone. I knew in my gut that something was wrong. I swallowed the sick feeling I had and decided that if she wanted to meet at The Roasted Bean then that was where I would meet her.

  * * *

  I didn't waist time. I hopped into the shower, and then, with a towel wrapped around my waist, I headed to my locker, and dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater. I grabbed my cologne and threw on a splash before grabbing my jacket and heading out the station door.

  * * *

  I impatiently drove across the city, hitting every single red light and slow driver there was. I sat at the light around the corner from The Roasted Bean and nervously tapped my thumb on the steering wheel, replaying our conversation in my mind.

  A couple of minutes later, I pulled up outside of the little cafe and parked the truck, shutting the engine off. I spotted Kristy's car right away in the full parking lot and glanced to see if she was still sitting in it, but the car was empty. I climbed out of my truck and walked into the full cafe looking for her through the crowd.

  * * *

  Immediately, my eyes fell to a sign just inside the door. Poetry slam was written in a fancy script on their events chalk board for tonight. That explained why the place was so full. It also proved why this was probably not a good meeting place for us. Talking would be impossible.
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